UFC 320: Alex Pereira was going to call out Jon Jones after title win
Alex Pereira admits he was going to call out Jon Jones after his UFC 320 title win over Magomed Ankalaev
LAS VEGAS – Alex Pereira admits his UFC 320 post-fight callout was going to be for Jon Jones, but considering a recent tragedy in his family, he changed course.
Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) exacted revenge on Magomed Ankalaev (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC 320 to recapture the light heavyweight title. It was a dominant, violent first-round statement finish – the type of performance that would warrant a big callout, and Pereira had one planned. However, when tragedy struck the Jones family, “Poatan” changed course.
During his post-fight interview in the octagon with Joe Rogan, Pereira called for a moment of silence for Arthur Jones, who died suddenly on Friday. Pereira explained that he had a prepared speech, but given the gravity of the moment, he opted to show respect for the Jones family instead of focusing on creating a potential superfight.
“With all due respect, with all the respect I have for the situation, and I’ve said this in the back: a lot of people try to create a lot of stuff around this,” Pereira told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at a post-fight news conference. “Again, please, with all the respect, I was gonna ask for Jon Jones at the White House, but with everything that happened, it’s not the right time to talk about it.”
The moment of silence for Arthur was a classy move by Pereira, which prompted the first tweet from Jon since the news of his brother’s death. “Wow Alex 🙏🏾,” Jones wrote on X.
Pereria’s aborted callout was a peek into his future intentions. The light heavyweight champion also expressed the idea of moving up to the heavyweight division, potentially to challenge for a title in a third UFC weight class – a move UFC CEO Dana White isn’t entirely against, but doesn’t necessarily agree with at the moment.
While the UFC went through a period where titleholders chased champ-champ status, as of late, there has been a shift. Champions such as Ilia Topuria and Islam Makhachev have needed to vacate their title ahead of moving up to challenge for the belt in the next weight class up.
If Pereira is granted the opportunity to challenge for the heavyweight crown, he believes vacating the 205-pound title wouldn’t be necessary.
“I don’t think that’s needed,” Pereira said. “Everyone knows how often I fight, so that’s not gonna be an issue.”
